The news that a dog has been found hung near Kates Hill School in Dudley has led an MP to label the crime as 'horrendous' and 'barbaric'

Ian Austin, MP for Dudley North said:

Decent people will be appalled by such an horrendous crime. It is utterly barbaric and you have to question the mentality of the people responsible.

Someone must know who did this and I hope they come forward with any information they have so the police and RSPCA can bring the perpetrators to justice.

I know local people will be outraged that this could happen in Dudley. I get a lot of correspondence from local people about animal welfare and I have worked hard to campaign on animal welfare issues. Incidents like this remind us why much more still needs to be done.

An RSPCA rescue dog who was diagnosed with cancer has finally be rehomed after months of being left on the shelf.

Eight-year-old Cleo was taken into the RSPCA Derby and District Branch, where a routine vet check discovered she had a number of mammory tumours which were likely to be cancerous, and would need an operation in future.

Volunteer Leanne Manchester said rehoming animals is tough enough in the current climate, without new owners having to worry about medical bills on top of the cost of keeping a pet.

Cleo has now found a new home Credit: RSPCA

Staff launched an appeal for a new family willing to take her on - and, after a Facebook appeal was shared dozens of times, it reached a woman living on the Isle of Man.

Anita Williams has taken in several terminally ill animals in the past and offered Cleo the chance to join them.

Ms Manchester said everyone at the branch was overjoyed they had managed to find her a home.

We are just delighted that Cleo has found a loving new home after all the stress she has had.

We don’t know how long she has left – months or hopefully years – but we do know they are going to be filled with happiness and love.

We just hope that Cleo’s story will encourage more people to adopt dogs from the RSPCA as we have so many with sad background stories like Cleo.